Differential item functioning (DIF) methodology for revealing sources of item difficulty and performance characteristics of different groups was explored. A total of 150 Scholastic Aptitude Test items and 132 Graduate Record Examination general test items were analyzed. DIF was evaluated for males and females and Blacks and Whites. (SLD)

The shift in policy from market driven behaviour towards a more cooperative tertiary sector is having an effect on New Zealand academic libraries and their relationships. Despite this, there has been no investigation of collaboration specifically targeting New Zealand tertiary libraries. This research project examine the state of collaboration…

This case study examines how analyzing inaccurate referrals can provide key insights into managing change. The author analyzes what went wrong in an attempt to identify opportunities for an Access Services department to consider how it might adapt to constant change. She wishes to show how the nature of change today demands that one pay…

In an extensive review of research on teacher preparation, Wilson, Floden, and Ferrini-Mundy (2001) pointed out that "study after study show that experienced and newly certified teachers alike see clinical experiences (including student teaching) as a powerful--sometimes the single most powerful--component of teacher preparation". They go on to…

This study examined whether the level of academic achievement changed when deaf pupils in Sweden were introduced to sign communication at the preschool or kindergarten level. The study compared performance of 40 deaf students, attending a school for the deaf, on a comprehensive testing program (covering Swedish language and mathematical and…

This annual report of public library services is part of "The Upgrade Process," a tool for Utah's public librarians and library trustees to use as they work to improve the quality and effectiveness of public library service. The process has three major components: public library service standards; a flexible planning process for public…

The adoption and impact of curriculum innovation are most commonly researched in terms of roles that teachers and school administrators are expected to play. A study in New Zealand focused on the responses of students. This integrated studies project developed alternative approaches to the traditional junior secondary school curriculum. It…

This research investigated whether computer anxiety is different if the measure is administered by computer rather than by paper and pencil. The study compared two groups of students (N=83) who were gathered from three undergraduate sections and one graduate section of a required computer class for in-service and pre-service teachers using anxiety…

This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of studying alone or in cooperative-learning groups on the performance of high and low achievers. The effects of completing computer-based instruction using either learner or program control are also examined. A total of 92 sixth-grade students were classified by Stanford Achievement Scores…

By the age of 4, children typically have separate schema for relating events in the physical world and for relating events to associated mental states. Generally, these schema cannot be coordinated until around 6 years of age, when the ability to use them together yields a structure for assigning intentionality. This intentional structure develops…

This bulletin summarizes the findings of a study that sought to determine what policies, regulations, and practices teachers believed posed the most significant constraints on their classroom activities; whether these constraints originated at the federal, state, local, or school level; and what effect the costraints had on quality instruction and…

Annual report data for the 1990, 1991, and 1992 school years of schools and colleges accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools/Colleges of Technology were analyzed to determine whether such schools and colleges have any characteristics that are significantly related to their performance. The following six measures were derived:…

This paper discusses policy issues faced by two-year colleges in the state of Washington during the first year of implementation of performance funding. Four key policy questions were reviewed: (1) the reward versus entitlement paradigm shift, which forces educators to alter expectations about "entitlement" to higher education funding…

This paper tested the hypothesis that certain cognitive, affective, and psychomotor variables were significant predictors of college persistence in the first few weeks of the freshman year. Data for the study involved 462 freshmen, with an average age of 18, who matriculated in the fall of 1997 at a public higher education institution; about 93…

This paper reports on research to study the benefit of a punctual self-directed learning experience with a hypermedia in the appropriation of a foreign language. Twenty-eight educational sciences students took a 55 item pretest on English notions. The students then engaged in a self-directed learning session using the CD-ROM, "L'anglais…